| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

The Door Between

Page history last edited by Jon 14 years ago

Queen, Ellery -- The Door Between (1937)

 

Review by Jason Hall - 4 / 5 

 

Ellery Queen's eleventh mystery novel is structured as a classic locked-room mystery: successful author Karen Leith is found in her Manhattan home, her throat cut by one blade of a pair of ornamental scissors. The upper story room's windows are barred; a door to the attic is bolted from the inside; and Eva MacClure, Karen's once-future stepdaughter, waits outside the other door the whole time, with no one entering or leaving. Thus Ellery's father, Inspector Queen, focuses his investigation on helpless Eva, but Ellery and a rough private detective named Terry Ring believe in the young woman's innocence. A faithful Japanese servant, an escaped pet bird, and a rock thrown through a window provide Ellery with a fanciful hypothesis he then puts to the test. The Door Between is an enjoyable entry in the series, though the cast—from Eva's noble cancer researcher father to the distressed damsel herself—works principally as character types in service of the plot. With its eastern Asian theme and date of publication, the book also uncomfortably mixes exoticism and epithet: the phrases "Jap" and "Chink" run throughout. Like most Ellery Queen tales, technically the puzzle functions as fair play: all of the clues are provided. But Ellery arrives at his solution after a couple mighty "what if" assumptions, and the disposal of the weapon would fall under what the golfing community calls an Act of God. Worth a read, especially as a GAD time capsule, but be prepared to be indulgent with the detective and its eponymous authors.

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.